Stevens Capital Management LP Acquires Shares of 2,521 Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX)

Stevens Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Paychex, Inc. (NASDAQ:PAYX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 2,521 shares of the business services provider’s stock, valued at approximately $300,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Paychex during the 3rd quarter worth $26,000. Carmel Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Paychex in the third quarter valued at about $28,000. Larson Financial Group LLC raised its position in Paychex by 91.5% in the third quarter. Larson Financial Group LLC now owns 272 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 130 shares during the last quarter. Fortis Group Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the third quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, Criterion Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Paychex in the fourth quarter valued at about $40,000. 83.47% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

PAYX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI reissued an “in-line” rating and issued a $118.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a research note on Tuesday, March 26th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Paychex in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Paychex from $108.00 to $111.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wedbush reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $115.00 price target on shares of Paychex in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, TD Cowen dropped their price target on Paychex from $122.00 to $121.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and ten have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $123.00.

Paychex Stock Performance

NASDAQ PAYX traded down $2.00 on Friday, reaching $119.97. 2,400,530 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,816,792. Paychex, Inc. has a one year low of $104.09 and a one year high of $129.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.18 billion, a PE ratio of 26.57, a PEG ratio of 3.45 and a beta of 0.93. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.36. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21.

Paychex (NASDAQ:PAYX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 2nd. The business services provider reported $1.38 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.01. Paychex had a net margin of 31.86% and a return on equity of 46.14%. The company had revenue of $1.44 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.46 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.29 earnings per share. Paychex’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Paychex, Inc. will post 4.71 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Paychex declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Friday, January 19th that allows the company to repurchase $400.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the business services provider to buy up to 0.9% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Paychex

In related news, VP Mark Anthony Bottini sold 15,481 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.53, for a total value of $1,865,924.93. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 82,690 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,966,625.70. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 11.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Paychex Company Profile

Paychex, Inc provides integrated human capital management solutions for human resources (HR), payroll, benefits, and insurance services for small to medium-sized businesses in the United States, Europe, and India. It offers payroll processing services; payroll tax administration services; employee payment services; and regulatory compliance services, such as new-hire reporting and garnishment processing.